Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats)
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174. To ask the Minister for Health the details of each instance of advertorial content commissioned by his Department and agencies under its remit in the past 12 months; the date this content was published; the purpose of this content; the cost of its publication; the publication or platform on which it was published, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10775/18]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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The Healthy Ireland 2018 communications and citizen engagement campaign is being delivered in collaboration with the Strategic Communications Unit (SCU) in Department of an Taoiseach. The SCU commissioned the relevant content and has responsibility for associated costs.

Three sponsored features appeared in the Irish Independent newspaper supplements, viz the Saturday magazine on the 13th, 20th and 27th of January 2018 and there was also a 48-page magazine supplement which accompanied the newspaper on Saturday 3rd February 2018.

The content in the magazine and the three sponsored features was aligned to the key themes and messages of the communications and citizen engagement campaign, ie Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Mental Well-being

The purpose of the articles and the magazine was to promote awareness for the public of these themes and the campaign which is an essential element of the overall implementation of Healthy Ireland; to provide information and tips about what changes people can make in their daily lives to improve their own health; and signpost to various initiatives and supports such as HSE websites and resources and cross-sectorial initiatives such as Get Ireland Walking, Healthy Ireland At Your Library etc.